My Sunshine Away | 
so-soSadly I found it kind of just didn't hit the mark for me.I found it dragged on from the friends 20 years later perspective as he reminisces about their childhood days and it seemed to go over a lot of details that just weren't relevant to the main plot and not in a leading your mind one way for a plot twist kind of way but in a what does this even have to do with things annoying kind of way. ⭐⭐
#OppositeDay @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TheKidUpstairs
This book is set in Louisiana and it has very accurate descriptions of the constant hot, humid, not #Winter weather that exists there.
pickAfter 15 year old Lindy gets raped the summer of 1989 the narrator spends time reminiscing on the good and the bad times of that summer. He also goes back and forth from the future to the past. I love a coming of age story and just trying to understand who you really are in this world.
pickThis coming of age story is told from the perspective of a man looking back on his youth. There was much more depth to this novel than I had expected, and it will stay with me.
pickThis book is both a coming of age novel and a mystery. We follow a teenage boy who is obsessed with a local girl, Lindy. When Lindy is raped by an unknown assailant, the boy takes us through all the suspects and what he knows about them. Through his recollections we learn more about him. An unsettling, well written book that evokes a whole neighbourhood in beautiful and interesting ways. 3.5 stars (more under a spoiler tag below)
I have read several great books so far this year, but for some reason these six are the ones I remember most.
Great idea doing this. I love seeing all the picks. #top6reads @Cinfhen
Book: My Sunshine Away
Movie: Little Miss Sunshine
Song: The Sound of Sunshine (Michael Franti & Spearhead)
#manicmonday @JoScho
#ManicMonday
1. My Sunshine Away (tagged) - Always comes to mind because it takes place in my home state 📖
2. Sunset Boulevard 🎥
3. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by the 5th Dimension 🎶
#WanderingJune
(Day 9 - #GreenGreenGrassOfHome)
*Tagged book is set in Louisiana—obvious that I would go to my home state for this prompt. Above see several men who have recorded the song, starting with top right, clockwise: Bobby Bare; Tom Jones; Porter Wagoner; and Jerry Lee Lewis. Center photo is Louisiana swampland. The tagged book is set in our capital city, Baton Rouge. It is a story of rape in the Southern gothic style, awash with guilt.
The narrator of this poignant book is obsessed with a girl in his neighborhood so when she gets raped, he becomes a suspect. I‘m a sucker for a good coming of age story and this was another good one.
#boysdontcry
#anglophileapril
pickI loved this book! The descriptions of Louisiana are some of the best I've ever read. The story is essentially a mystery/thriller following a teenage girl who is raped, and the neighborhood boy who loves her and just wants to make things better for her.
There is so much more to this book though. It dives into the interconnectedness of a small neighborhood and how one terrible act changes everyone.
#LitsyAtoZ Letter W @BookishMarginalia
I'm currently listening to this book as I work today. For anyone who needs Louisiana for their #ReadingUSA2019 this would be a great one. The author and the setting are both #Louisiana.
"I believe Louisiana gets a bad rap. I don't want this story to add to it, though I know it will, because people often discount what we say here."
Since I'm trying not to double dip on my challenges, this will count as my W for #LitsyAtoZ
Look Cindy it came! @Cinfhen 😍😍😍
What a lovely surprise! I‘m so excited to read this book and it was so kind of you to think of my kids - they‘re excited to play Driedel and win the chocolate coins (they didn‘t melt!)
You are truly kind and wonderful. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness my friend!
pickA big thank you to @Mdargusch for putting this book on my radar and an even BIGGER thank you to @TrishB for putting this book in my hand. I devoured this book in one sitting...the narrator reminded me of Fred Savage from the Wonder Years when he looks back and recalls the days he spent longing for his neighbor Winnie. There‘s a sense of innocence mixed with malice that keeps you turning the pages. And it‘s an ode to 80s which was perfect💕5 stars
August 2018
My top picks this month are Darktown, Americanah, and The Menéndez Murders.
I only read two of the books from #makemereadit ? But they were two of my picks for the month so that‘s incredible!
Now I need to get back on track for #pop18 (10 books left for the year) and #booked2018 (3 books left for this quarter).
pickWhat a great afternoon‘s read. A mystery at the heart of the book, but about so much more. Families, growing up, love and learning about life. Enjoyed the writing and although it tied it up to find out who did it, it felt it didn‘t really matter by then as the story was so much more.
And I learned a bit about Baton Rouge, not somewhere I‘m overly familiar with!
#voulez-vous #abbainaugust
Wanting a quiet uneventful day, starting this one - another @Reviewsbylola inspired buy! At least it‘s a Bank Holiday so I get another Sunday.
Hubby ordered me another copy of yesterday‘s tea ruined book!
pickIt‘s a hot, sticky #summernightcity in Baton Rouge in 1989 when Lindy Simpson is brutally raped on the sidewalk in front of her house.
The narrator of the book is a teenage neighbor boy of Lindy‘s who suffers a massive crush on her. The story unfolds from his perspective, and while it is a mystery, it‘s more of a coming of age story.
Walsh has a beautiful writing style that flows across the page effortlessly. #abbainaugust
Nothing says Saturday night like a Lush #bathandbook. 🛀🧖🏼♀️ The kids are asleep and I‘m a little more than halfway through this bad boy. It‘s giving me major Virgin Suicides vibes.
Literally all it took was a couple pages in this book talking about the Challenger disaster, and all of a sudden I‘ve lost an hour and a half of my life to google. 😂 I literally had to know every detail (yes I obviously knew about the Challenger, but now I need to know everything!!)
For instance, did you know the crew didn‘t die immediately but actually lived the 2 minutes and 45 seconds it took for the crew cabin to crash into the water? 😢
A neighborhood girl gets raped and #oneofus is guilty. This book is told through the eyes of a neighborhood boy who is obsessed with the rape victim. Is this unreliable narrator the rapist or is it some other unsavory character that is lurking about? This is part coming of age story and part mystery. #whodunitbymail #abbainaugust
pickI think this has been one of my better reading experiences of the #whodunitbymail swap for me... Quality writing, suspenseful, questionable narrator, interesting setting. Thanks @a_tad_bit_bookish for your pick! Mailing this off to @Mdargusch soon.
6y
This is a perfect summer read....a mystery set in a Louisiana town. Poetically chilling writer.
Another great pick @pageonebooks
#literarylife #page1books #bookish #booknerd #mysunshineaway #mowalsh
@ReadingEnvy This one is headed your way somewhat early. #whodunitbymail
pickThis was my #WhoDunItByMail for this round. I finished it earlier this week and I‘m still thinking about the story. It was beautifully written and even though, it took me awhile not to hate it (books involving rape are not usually my thing), I made it a pick because I‘m still a little haunted by it. It‘s a little closer to a so-so for me.
#FriYayIntro @jesshowbooks
1. This is my #whodunitbymail book for this round. I‘m on the fence about it currently.
2. Ole Miss beat LSU in baseball 14-3!!! Hotty Toddy!!
3. Nope. Is there a readathon this weekend?
4. Sorry about this: Why did Shakespeare always write in pen? Pencils were confusing to him. 2B or not 2B?
5. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I got this with all the held mail from my trip! I‘ll post some neat bookish things I did and such a little later. I just finished The Cuckoo‘s Calling so I can start this one now. Yay! #WhoDunItByMail @dariazeoli #catsoflitsy
@BookishBelle this one is on its way to you! Hope you enjoy it!
#whodunitbymail
Vanderpump Rules or My Sunshine Away? In all seriousness 70 pages in and I‘m hooked!
I‘m really enjoying this book. It meanders, it‘s uncomfortable, the characters aren‘t necessarily sympathetic. But the story is interesting.
And this is why #whodunitbymail is so much fun. Different ways to fall into that mystery category!
My next #whodunitbymail read arrived today! Please enjoy this gratuitous photo bomb of Josh Holloway, aka James ‘Sawyer‘ Ford, in LOST, which I‘m rewatching this year 😊
pickGah. This book is awesome-sauce. I want to compare M.O. Walsh to Thomas H. Cook because like Cook, Walsh has written a sort of mystery story that‘s also a coming-of-age story, and a family drama and a story about friendship. It‘s so so good. The writing is stellar and the narrator is fallible and vulnerable and, ultimately, redeemed. LOVED it.
As usual I forgot to take a photo before sending this off but I did get this in the mail to you @dariazeoli ! Went out this morning. #whodunitbymail
Just got this in the mail for this month‘s #whodunitbymail. Looking forward to it!
The Extra Foods book bargain bin was a treasure trove today! At $3 each, how could I possibly resist? Of course I had to lay them out on my new #EdgarAllanPoe scarf from #outofprint. #bookhaul
pickI can't believe we're already on round four of #WhoDunItByMail 😱
This was between a So-So and a Pick for me--the end is what moved my rating up! I was totally intrigued for the last hundred pages or so. This is definitely a coming-of-age story with an awful lot of talk about masturbation, but the mystery surrounding the rape of a young girl was one that kept me guessing until the last.
pickI can't even express how much I loved this book. There are some uncomfortable parts that deal w/ sexual assault, & icky teen lust, but the overall story is one of love & compassion & family. Set in Baton Rouge, the passages about misconceptions of the place resonated with me. We don't ride gators or paddle to a school in a pirogue. And not all Louisiana cities are like New Orleans. It's a rich story that left me feeling great at the end.
pickInteresting story. Very atmospheric. Change of pace from a standard procedural. Perhaps a little too long? Anyway, I finished it a few weeks ago, but it seems like longer than that because...life happens. Finally mailed it today! #whodunitbymail
Someone took my sunshine away while I was in the grocery store, and I got soaked in a downpour. How nice, then, to come home to #bookmail and the perfect accompaniment to dinner and wine in my pajamas. #whodunitbymail
@PatriciaU Did you get the next #whodunitbymail book? Sorry it was so late, now that summer is winding down should have more time to stay on schedule now.
I love my box @EvieBee84 my youngest already stole my giant paperclip for her books and she's eyeballing my tabs. I had never heard of any of these books and they all sound great. I can't wait to finish what I'm reading so I can start MY Sunshine Away, and I love graphic novels a Egypt but I don't own any so I'm excited to Cairo as well.
Everything is perfect thank you.
#beachinbookswap #bookbox
pickI adore books with uncut pages. The beauty of imperfection.
I loved this book. While it's billed as a mystery (I didn't see who 'did it' coming) it more a reflection on growing up, perspective, relationships and how life, big and small events effect who we are and who we want to be. It's wonderfully written in the first person and draws you in
It's going out in the mail today to the #whodunitbymail gang
#bookish #bibliophile #litten #mystery
